Author's Note: I'm soooooooooo sorry for the long wait! There was something wrong with the site! The chapter was ready but the internet wasn't… Alas, what a shame… Oh well, problem's over know! Hope you enjoy the chappie! I'll get the next one in soon after! This goes without saying but, REMEMBER TO REVIEW!!!
Chapter 8: Welcome to the Coriyana Mansion
Nami ran through the streets of the town glancing at her watch every 15 seconds. "Crap!" she cried. "Only two more minutes!" Then she slowed down and than stopped all together. "Wait a minute…" she said. "…why the hell am I rushing myself!? No one is gonna be there at exactly 6 o'clock!" She began to advance toward the ship once more, walking instead of running. She strolled leisurely on the street. Eventually she got to the ship and, not surprisingly, no one was there yet. Except for the people that were already there of course…
Nami sighed as she boarded the ship. Zoro was still sleeping; Chopper was finished with what ever he did and was currently treating Ussop. Once again something exploded in the long nosed man's face. "Did anyone else come?" she asked to no one in particular. She already knew what the answer was going to be. "Nope…" replied Chopper. "…you're the first one to come, even though Sanji was here earlier to drop off the groceries." "Typical…" said Nami.
They waited for about 5 minutes for the others to come. First was Robin. No surprise there… "Sorry I'm late Ms. Navigator-san." she replied. "No prob…" said Nami. Soon after, Sanji came strolling down the pier. "NAMI-SWAN, ROBIN-CHAWN! I'M BACK!" Zoro grimaced in his sleep. "Can he go one damn day without doing that?" he asked himself. "Great." said Nami. "Now where's Luffy?" No one had a clue. "Beats me." replied Sanji. "I do not know." said Robin. Nami sighed heavily and irritably.
"That stupid idiot!" she cried. "Jeez, can't he be on time for once!" Just as she said this they heard a faint cry from the east of the ship. "GOMU GOMU NO…" it went. Everyone winced. They knew what that meant. "DUCK FOR COVER!" Nami yelled. The crew hid in various spots and ducked. "…ROCKET!" Luffy came flying on to the ship. Now it's been a long while since Zoro's been on the ship right? I mean, he should know better right? Wrong… Unfortunately for him, he's slow so Luffy flew right into him. He and the sleepy green haired swordsman collided into the side of the ship. That had to hurt…
Luffy laughed as he got up and brushed himself off. "That was fun!" he cried. Then he stopped when he saw Zoro. He had spirals in his eyes. "Oi what happened to Zoro?" asked Luffy confusedly. "YOU HAPPENDED TO HIM YOU IDIOT!" shouted everyone except Robin of course. She just chuckled softly to herself as she read another book. Zoro knocked Luffy across the head. "Dammit!" he cried. "All I wanted to do was sleep!" "I told you to get out of the way Zoro…" replied Nami matter-of-factly. Zoro glowered at her and sat down on the deck. "Humph…" he said.
"Great we're all here!" cried Luffy. "To the haunted house!" He was just about to rush off the ship again but Nami grabbed his shirt. (Sound familiar?) "Not so fast." she said to her eager captain. "We have to find the damned place first!" "I got the directions from the bookstore I was in." replied Robin. "Yosh!" cried Luffy. "Then let's go!" "Dammit Robin!" cried the crew except for Luffy and maybe Sanji…. Robin smiled at her crewmates' discomfort. "Hey, I want to go check it out. It's the only historical landmark in this town." she explained. "And besides Ms. Navigator-san, there's a cash reward for completing the haunted house challenge…
Robin said the magic words. Nami's eyes turned into belli. "Really!? How much are we talking about!?" she asked excitedly. "10,000 belli" replied Robin. Nami shrieked with delight. "Well why didn't you say so!?" she cried. "Come on guys let's go!" "YES NAMI-SWAN!" cried Sanji. "Yosh, that's the ticket Nami!" shouted Luffy. "To the haunted house!" Zoro, Ussop, and Chopper just groaned. This was gonna be a long night…
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"The haunted house challenge eh? Poor soul…" said Yosi as he cleaned a beer mug. "Maybe me should of warned her 'bout takin that challenge…" said Amy. She laid her head on to the counter. "I mean, remember what happened earlier?" "Yeah I remember. Those stupid little boys thought they could tough it out, but ended up traumatized for life." replied Yosi. "It's quite funny when it comes right down to it."
"It's not funny!" said Amy. "I took that challenge ya know… I thought me was gonna die! That house is truly haunted…" Yosi chuckled as he cleaned another glass. "I'm sure she'll be alright." he said. "But people have really died in that house!" cried Amy. "It's a demon place! I'm surprised they didn't make Ms. Q shut it down." "Well…" said Yosi as he cleaned a plate. "That house gets major attention. That means major tourism and tourism is what keeps the town running and my business afloat." Amy frowned and ran a hand through her long crimson red hair. "Perhaps…" she said. "…but at what cost?"
Yosi smiled at the girl. He took a clean glass and poured some milk. "Cheer up lassie!" he said giving the drink to Amy. She took it and chugged it down. "Thanks…" she said. "…me needed that. She got out of her seat and headed out the door. "Bye Yosi! I'll see ya when me see ya!" With that she left. "Take care lassie…" whispered the bartender as he cleaned Amy's mug.
Amy walked down the street deep in thought. It was late in the afternoon and the sun had just begun to set. The markets were closing down and people were beginning to go into their homes for dinner. Amy sighed heavily. "I feel bad…" she thought to herself. "Gee I wonder why?" replied the voice. "Ah its Miss Know-it-all comin ta lecture me…" thought Amy sharply.
"Ouch that stung…You want to talk?"
"No, me fine…"
"But you just said that you feel bad. Don't you at least want to talk about it?"
"No. That's just crazy! Me can't just talk to me self! It's just plain…weird!"
"You've talked to me before…"
"So what… Ya don't need ta know everythin…"
"If you don't tell me, I'll just search your mind…"
"Oh please, I dare ya."
"Ok, you're upset because you're afraid that Nami might die in the challenge. You are afraid that you'll feel guilty because you didn't try to stop her."
"……………Me hate ya, ya know that right?"
"Oh Amy if you feel that guilty, why don't you help her? In fact help her win the challenge. Make it so that no one will ever have to do it again. Besides, you're the only one who has gotten the farthest…"
"True, in fact me would of won that challenge if those damned ghosts didn't try ta kill me."
"That's the spirit!"
Amy smiled to herself. She felt weird that she was talking to herself but what the hell. The voice gives pretty damn good advice. "To the haunted house!" she cried happily as she sprinted down the road.
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"Soooo tired…." cried Luffy. He and his crew were currently scaling a steep hill. Everyone was tired but Luffy was the only one who made something out of it. "Robin, are we there yet!?" "No Luffy, we are not." replied Robin as neutrally as she possibly could but a hint of frustration tinted her voice. "Shut up Luffy! You've said that 5 times for the past 10 minutes!" cried Sanji.
Luffy fell on his face. "I'm tired…" he said wearily. "Zoro, carry me…" "The hell I will!" Zoro cried. He picked his captain up and set him on his feet. "You got two legs that aren't broken! At least, not yet that is…" said Zoro rather mysteriously. Luffy took a hint and continued to walk. He couldn't tell whether it was a joke or a threat, but didn't want to stick around to find out.
All the while, Ussop was shaking in his boots. "G-g-g-guys, do we really have to do this!?" he asked, scared as usual. "Of course! It's a great adventure that we can't afford to pass up!" cried Luffy totally forgetting about his fatigue. Yeah Needle-nose. What are you, chicken?" challenged Nami. Ussop took the bait. "Of course not!" he cried. "The Great Captain Ussop is never afraid!"
After a few more minutes of "Are we there yet!?" by Luffy, "No..." from Robin, "Shut the hell up!" from Zoro, Sanji, and Nami, and more cowardly moments from Ussop and Chopper, the crew finally arrived at the haunted house. It was now dark and ominous clouds hung overhead (Looks like rain, no? Possibly some thunder and lightning. How original…). An old woman was waiting for them at the front gate.
Luffy whooped for joy. And, on the inside of course, so did the crew. No more complaining from Luffy, at least for know… "Welcome to the Coriyana Mansion. Are you youngens here to take the challenge?" "You bet!" cried Luffy and Nami answering for the rest of the crew. The woman smiled. "Ah good to hear, good to hear. I am Ms. Quana, owner of the house and hostess of the Haunted House challenge." she said. "It is 100 belli to take the challenge. Nami's heart dropped. "100 belli!? Why!?" she cried. Ms. Quana smirked. "Hey, old ladies like me have to make a living too ya know." she said. "Come on Nami! It's only 100 belli!" pleaded Luffy.
Nami sighed and thought to herself for a moment. Then she smiled. "Alright!" she said. "I'll do it!" "Yahoo!" cried Luffy. Nami paid the woman. Ms. Quana let the crew through the gate and into the house. It was dark so she lit each of them a torch. "Sorry for the inconvenience. This house has been in my family for hundreds of years, before electricity was used." she said as she led them down a hallway into the parlor.
It was a huge house. The parlor was still pretty even though most of the items were exceedingly old. A large fireplace blazed in the front of the room. The hardwood floor was covered with a seemingly expensive carpet that was faded with age. The walls were littered with portraits of possible family members. The entire room was simple and old-fashioned, yet nice.
"Nice room…." said Chopper. "Thank you." replied Ms. Quana. "The challenge is simple. You are to stay in this house and search for an amulet necklace. It is a pure sliver disk with a ruby in the middle. It hangs on a silver chain." "How long do we have to complete this challenge?" asked Robin.
"Til the crack of dawn. That is, if you'll last that long…" replied Ms. Quana with a dark smile. She cackled loudly as she exited the house. "Ok…" said Ussop. "I think I speak for everyone when I say that I ain't staying in here til sunrise with that type of statement!" "Correction, you speak for yourself!" said Nami. "Now this shouldn't be too hard. All we have to do is find a stupid necklace! It shouldn't even take that long!"
"Don't be so sure…"said Zoro. "There's something eerie about all of this…" "Aww is the Marimo swordsman afraid of the big scary house?" mocked Sanji. "What did you say?" said Zoro as he unsheathed one of his swords." "What are you deaf!?" cried Sanji. "Fine I'll spell it out for you: YOU'RE JUST SCARED!" "YOU WANNA FIGHT SHITTY-COOK!?" Zoro yelled. "BRING IT ON BASTARD SWORDSMAN!" They were just about to get it on (no homo) when they heard a loud smack. The two dropped to the ground with a large swelled bump on their noggins. Nami whacked them across their heads.
Nami smirked at them. "You two are so loud, you could wake the dead!" Chopper and Ussop started to shake. "But they're not, right?" asked Ussop. "Ghost aren't gonna attack us are they?" asked Chopper, his eyes wide with terror. "It would be cool if they did!" cried Luffy. "I've never seen a real live ghost before!" Ussop and Chopper turned as white as a…well…ghost, and Nami sighed. "That's an oxymoron Luffy." said Robin. Luffy frowned. "I'm not a moron!" he said. "How rude!" The crew sweatdropped. "Never mind…" replied Robin.
"Ok… Anyway, back to the issue at hand. We have to hurry up and find this necklace! We're burning moonlight!" said Nami. "I have an idea!" cried Luffy. "How about we split into groups? If we do that, we'll find the necklace faster!" Everyone stared at their captain. He just had an idea? And it was actually good? "Wow, good idea Luffy!" offered Nami. Then she thought, "Wow, those are three words I never thought I'd say…"
"All right we'll split into groups!" she said aloud. "Ussop you will go with Robin, I will go with Sanji, and Luffy will go with Zoro and Chopper. Questions?" "YAY I GET TO GO WITH NAMI-SWAN!" cried the cook. "Ok, since there are no questions, we'll split right here." said Nami. "We'll meet back here in two hours for a status report!" said Luffy. "Aye aye captain!" cried everyone and went on their way.
Author's note: Ah and the plot thickens! The story gets even juicier after this! Stick around and I promise I won't leave ya'll hanging for long! G'night ya'll!
